The Dosadi Suite - Cycle 3 - Pivot
by OrionXIII
Summary: A Star Fleet engineer and his alien wife are caught up in the schemes of several powers' intelligence services. Meanwhile, a genetically engineered polymorphic plague is heading, undetected to the core of the Federation. Minor edits for clarity, and added story notes as a guide to the full book.
1. Story Notes

The Dosadi Suite

Story Notes

This is actually a full book, broken into 5 cycles and 3 codas. The story is being told by a reporter – if you want to read things in order here's your table of contents:

Cycle 1 - Fugue

Prologue – Sets the stage.

The story of how a young human Star Fleet engineer meets and falls in love with a Dosadi Imperial Marine. Crosses the events of Coda 2, and 3. Minor appearance by Nurse Chapel.

Cycle 2 – Triad

Continues the story of Wilkes and Sooth, their struggles to have a child while dealing with the espionage intrigues of a Hydran Colonel. Minor appearances by CPT Kirk and CDR Spock.

Cycle 3 – Pivot

Continues the story of Wilkes and Sooth as they become involved in stopping a bio-weapon from being released on Earth under a flag of truce.

Coda 1 – Raid on Romulus

Details the events of the Dosadi raid that destroyed the Romulon capitol city.

Coda 2 – Free For All At Toulagai

Details the events of the first battle where Wilkes, Sooth and COL Jons first met – though on opposite sides.

Coda 3 – The Long Night

Details the events of the Dosadi assault on a Gorn battlestation to recover a defector.

Cycle 4 – Minuet

Tells the story Wilkes' and Sooth's daughter Heather's time at Starfleet Academy while she learns to be a Federation fighter pilot and a details a series of Cardassian atrocities.

Cycle 5 – Finale

Tells the story of Wilkes' and Sooth's son Corin, a Dosadi Special Forces Soldier and his rescue of a young Dosadi child after the Cardassians capture a critical Dosadi planet – and the Dosadi's attempt to retake the planet.

Epilogue – Wraps it all up for you.

End Notes & Acknowledgments – copyright and title information for song lyrics and thanks to the folks who've provided help and suggestions!

I would VERY much like any comments, suggestions, or reviews you would care to offer – positive or negative, even if it's just 'This didn't hook my interest'. Thank you for taking the time to read it!


	2. Chapter 1

_**CYCLE 3 - PIVOT**_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

_The truth is balance. However, the opposite of truth, which is unbalance, may not be a lie. _

_- Susan Sontag (Earth)_

UNKNOWN

JANUARY 2271

"Will it work?"

"If it arrives at a target location as I have described, certainly. The R0 should start out at 15 and increase from there. With a latent period of nearly a week, an extremely high transmission rate along multiple vectors, and an asymptomatic period of two weeks, it will likely spread off-world rapidly. Long before anyone knows there is a need for quarantine. But it is essential that the initial release occurs where there will be a maximum number of highly-mobile individuals exposed."

"And the lethality?"

"Better than 20% initially, and likely to rise. It _is_ polymorphic by design. But after the initial phase, this is unpredictable. There will be further losses due to the breakdown of civic order and services, of course."

"Specificity?"

"Genetically targeted to a single species, as requested. Hybrids may or may not be susceptible depending upon chromosomal makeup."

"Treatment?"

"Unlikely to have any efficacy from one generation to the next. It is highly polymorphic, maintaining only those few traits we desire as constants."

"When can we have a dispersion device?"

"It will take some time to go from hypothetical concept to tested realization. No more than 5 years. However, you understand getting the product through screening will be nearly impossible, do you not? The Federation are not fools."

"You will focus on your area of expertise and I shall focus on mine."


	3. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER 2**_

_Never mind searching for who you are. Search for the person you aspire to be. _

_- Robert Brault – Earth (Human)_

T'ELESH, DOSAD

JANUARY 2271

Lieutenant Thomas Wilkes was standing at the window of the roundhouse he and Sooth shared with their four children on the rare occasions both of them were on Dosad and wanted some alone time. The Dosadi didn't really 'own' houses so much as they shared them, and respected those who wished to be alone for whatever reasons. Naked, he stared out at the night through the deep opening. He enjoyed the sound of the driving rain, the feeling of the cool eastern wind across his skin; He enjoyed just being alive. After the chaos of the first few years of his Starfleet career, it was nice to enjoy a couple of years of peace and quiet. And it was just so NICE to be home with Sooth and the kits. With him being posted to the _USS Hood_ and Sooth being stationed aboard the Dosadi assault carrier _ISS Delos_, it seemed all too rare that he got to enjoy a real family life. Sometimes it sucked being a sailor.

The clouds scudded across the blue-grey sky, the wind making the weird Dosadi trees rustle their corn-husk-like long-bladed leaves and twisting the draping pseudo-vine structures that hung down from the branches. He always thought they looked haunted when the wind blew like this, and tonight was no exception. He could smell the cool dank of the distant big lake on the wind and, if he listened closely, hear the soft whisper of the waves against the shore. The weather suited his mood tonight.

He was getting close to the end of his tour with Starfleet and needed to make some decisions. Sign up for another tour? Take Sooth and the kits to Earth and take a job as an Engineer there? Try to find something to do here on Dosad – the Dosadi weren't big on power-systems and technology most of the time, but there was enough of it needed that he could probably find something that kept them fed and housed. Not that the Dosadi didn't seem to always make sure that folks had someplace to stay and something to eat anyway. As long as you had any sort of utility – even as a competent babysitter or storyteller, there would be a place for you somewhere.

Or maybe he should join the Dosadi Imperial Fleet, then he and Sooth could be stationed on the _Delos_ together. As usual, he thought about that a lot. It made sense. But, he simply wasn't ready to walk away from Starfleet and the Federation, and there were advantages to being a Federation citizen. He sighed and heard Sooth say,

"For a big, bald monkey, you're pretty sexy."

Turning and smiling at his wife he answered back, completing the familiar ritual, "And for a big house cat, you're pretty sexy yourself." She laughed and held her arms out to him.

Later, curled up around her in their bed and holding her close he sighed again.

She nuzzled back against him, "You worry about the journey ahead too much, Wilkes."

"Or not enough. Half the time I think I'm just stumbling from one near-disaster to the next and relying on luck to get through them."

Purring, she said, "I think they call that 'life', Wilkes. You can plan and prepare and worry and wonder and none of it will change what the gods have in mind for tomorrow. All you can do is be the best you can be every day and see where your road leads. Enjoy where you ARE" she said, wiggling back against him, "without worrying so much about what's up ahead."

"Oh believe me, I very much enjoy where I am." he gave her a squeeze. "But I don't know what to do about so many things. Do I rejoin Starfleet? Join the Imperial Fleet? Stay here? Take us all back to Earth? Jons wants me to work with him on opening up trade between Hydra and Dosad, but he's a spy!"

"I'm not ready to leave the Imperial Marines, Wilkes. And Starfleet would probably throw you in the brig if you worked with Jons. I like him, I think, but I don't trust him." she giggled.

"No, that's the weird thing." He rubbed her ears softly, "Jons sent me a note just before I left for leave. Chief Engineer White called me to his office to give it to me. There were two really creepy guys from Starfleet Security there and they said they wanted me to."

"Why would they want you to work with a spy?" She arched her neck.

"That's what I said, and I thought they wanted me to spy for them so I told them, 'I'm an Engineer, not a spy.'

They just laughed and said they didn't want me to be a spy. Just work with Jons, but let them keep monitoring devices wherever we met, or worked together so they could keep an eye on HIM, and let them track all our communications. Said I didn't need to really do anything at all."

She thought about it for a moment, "Maybe they think they can catch him being a spy and...Can they even do anything to him? He's a diplomat."

"Kick him out permanently maybe. I didn't get it either, but I said I'd at least meet with him and see what he's got in mind. We should probably tell the Council that he's a spy before he gets here."

"Well it'll have to wait until after our hunting trip tomorrow." She giggled again, "And I want to be there when you tell N'Orel that you've invited a spy to Dosad."

Wilkes tickled her and things degenerated rapidly from there.


	4. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER 3**_

_Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief. _

_- Nursery Rhyme – Earth (Human)_

FEDERATION HEAVY CRUISER USS HOOD, UNDER WAY

JANUARY 2271

Chief Engineer White sat at his paper-strewn desk aboard the _USS Hood_ while two Starfleet Security officers spoke with him. Though wearing the uniforms of Lieutenant Commanders, their real ranks and branches of service were classified. They wore whatever uniforms were convenient to their purpose. The first asked,

"Will he do it?"

White looked him up and down again. The man gave off an air of casual lethality, as though killing were as automatic a function as shaving. "He's a good kid, Commander 'Jones'. I still object to your attempting to recruit him."

His partner leaned forward, "We're not recruiting him, per se, Chief. We don't really want him to have anything to do with any intelligence operations at all."

"Then why, Commander 'Smith', do you want him working with that Hydran operative?"

Smith and Jones looked at each other for a moment, and Jones finally spoke with a quiet, flat voice, "White, you seem to have influence with Wilkes, so we're going to level with you. We don't have a lot of contacts with or penetration into Hydran operations. We get good dope on the Klingons from Dosadi intelligence as you well know... "

"Don't remind me." White interrupted.

Smith smiled while Jones continued, "Indeed, the Korat have quite a reputation. But the Hydrans are plugged into _everyone_. If we can get a peek into their operations...it could completely alter the balance of power. In our favor. If Wilkes works with Jons, we've got a tie-point. We can try to plant a trace on him, we know where to find him and can see who he talks to, business contacts, contracts, who he interacts with – not only find out who might be turned on _our_ side, but who _we_ might be able to turn on _THEIR_ side. "

He paused a moment, clearly wrestling with what he should say, "Further, there is value in being able to quietly pass messages from one Service to another, outside normal diplomatic channels. There are times when information must be exchanged, but in a way that is...deniable."

"Jons isn't stupid, Jones. He's going to know that Wilkes is working with you. That puts him at a lot of risk. I don't like that."

"Of course he'll know! And he'll know that we know that he knows. The fact that Wilkes will be completely in the dark will be what keeps him safe. He can't betray knowledge he doesn't have, and Jons will quickly find out that the boy is clueless. He'll suspect something, but he won't _know_ anything other than that we're watching."

Disgusted White asked, "You still really enjoy these games, don't you?"

Jones laughed, "Of course. It's really the only game there is. You used to be quite good at it yourself."

"I _said,_ don't remind me."

DUCHY OF THE SWORD WORLDS, HYDRAN KINGDOM

JANUARY 2271

"Will he do it?" the short, sallow-skinned man with black hair asked.

"I believe so. Starfleet Intelligence will want to use my contacts with him as a way to keep tabs on me." Colonel Jons said.

"Is he an operative then?"

"No, M'lord. He is just what he seems. A ridiculously fortunate, rather likeable young human who joined Starfleet to see a wider universe. We've done rather extensive research on his background. His home village is smaller than my own lands." he chuckled.

"What is he doing married to a Dosadi? That _stinks_ of Starfleet meddling."

"I'm not entirely sure how that came about, but I intend to find out. He told me, and his dossier confirms, that he was posted to the _ISS Delos_ a few months before the battle at Toulagai, but as you know, we have no real penetration into Dosadi operations. Yet."

"And you think you can dodge both Starfleet and the Korat and gain something useful out of this? Is the payoff worth the risk? You're an extraordinarily effective agent. I'd hate to see you caught like a mouse in a trap."

Jons bowed, "M'lord, a clever mouse can get away with the cheese and escape both trap and cat. It simply takes focus and attention to your duties. And a certain panache, of course." He smiled.

"Very well. But I shall take it very much amiss if you lose your utility to the Kingdom. Your duties require that you remain active, and effective, Colonel."

T'ELSH, DOSAD

JANUARY 2271

"Well, N'Orel, will he do it?"

The big cat looked at the Klingon and said, "I'm not sure, K'mpok. He's got good instincts for a human. He knows the whole thing stinks like rotted meat and he is suspicious. He doesn't know _what_ is wrong with the situation, just that something is not right."

"Can his woman push him into it?"

"That still makes my fur stand up. It's just...not right. But I doubt it. Dosadi are, as you know, fiercely loyal to their mates and if he thinks it's a bad idea, she won't try to dissuade him."

The Klingon trader thought for a little while, watching the sun rise over the distant lake. "Perhaps if something was to be offered to her so that she thought it was a good idea she might advise him as we wish. A woman's voice is the last a man hears every night, after all."

N'Orel laughed. "And what would you offer a Dosadi? Gold? Slaves? Lands? We are not interested in such things."

"Power. Connections and a stronger family."

N'Orel shook his head, "We're not Klingon, K'mpok. But there may be something to family. Perhaps if she knows we of the Korat see it as a good opportunity, she will work with us rather than against us. I will arrange to have one of our people speak with her. They're going out hunting this morning, so it will have to wait for their return. There is no rush. The Hydran won't arrive for several weeks yet."

"majQa." he smiled.


	5. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER 4**_

_It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars. _

_- Garrison Keillor – Human (Earth)_

T'ELSH, DOSAD

FEBRUARY 2271

The sun rose with long spokes of shadow and light through the clouds. The waves lapped at the hull of the longship as Sooth and Wilkes stood waiting, small rucks at their feet. Wilkes, watching people getting aboard, taking seats at oars and generally making ready to sail said, "You know, I'm still surprised at the amount of cooperation you Dosadi have. On Earth we'd have to hire a boat or hire a crew or something. Here you just ask folks if they want to do something until you get enough to do it. And how come old Tarleth lets anyone take his boat out?"

Sooth laughed, "I keep forgetting that most of your experience with us is aboard the _Delos_. Military structure is different. At home, we're a pretty cooperative culture compared to humans and we don't really have the same feelings about ownership your people do.

"Tarleth usually helms this longship because he knows it better than anyone else. He just didn't feel like going out today, so S'arleth will because she wants to sail. Lots of people helped build it, why would it be his alone?"

"But what if she just doesn't feel like coming back? Or sinks it?"

"Well, I guess he'd get another one built, but why wouldn't she come back? And if we sank it, we'd help build another one. It would be dishonorable not to."

"Um, say, she decided to move across the lake and wanted to keep the boat and just...didn't come back with it."

She looked askance at him, "She has too much honor for that, Wilkes. Besides, everyone crewing today would want to come back here anyway. If she tried to keep them there, they'd probably throw her overboard."

Wilkes shook his head, "I love it, but you would never fit in on Earth. People aren't like that – we always want more stuff."

Bending down to pick up her ruck she said, "I know. I never understood that. Why do so many people there have so many _things_. And your history! It's all about taking stuff from other people even when you can't use it yourself, or trying to make other people do what _you_ want or believe what _you_ believe. Why not just mind your own business?"

Grabbing his own ruck as Corin and Eletha came walking down the dock he said, "I guess that's why I like it so much better here. I love being a Federation citizen but there are _so_ many rules and regulations. It's sure better than what it sounds like it used to be, but I get tired of being monitored all the time and all the other restrictions."

Corin, arriving in time to hear Wilkes' last comment, paused with one leg on the dock, one across the gunwale of the longship and asked, curiously, "And so, to get away from being monitored and away from restrictions, you joined _STARFLEET_? Wilkes, I always thought you were crazy. Now I know you are."

When Eletha shoved him, he almost fell overboard.

Several hours later, as they were lounging mid-deck while others took their turns at the oars, Wilkes was watching the sail cut across the clouds and the ice-blue sky. "So tell me more about this hunting trip, Corin. Sooth's been pretty cagey about not telling me much of anything. I notice we didn't bring any phasers, or stunners, or anything."

"Where's the honor in hunting prey with a long-range weapon? I suppose I could call the _Delos_ and get them to fire a phaser barrage too...but I don't think it would be much fun, nor prove any courage of mine. No, when we get to where we're going we'll make our own weapons: spears. You humans use technology for everything. We could easily take a power-float across the lake, or fly, or if we could trade enough for it, call a transporter. Easy and boring! But when it's just YOU?" He licked his lips, lost in some mental image of his own.

"You'll love it, Wilkes. Naraks are related to us – they stayed solitary hunters and got bigger, stronger, and meaner while we evolved to be more cooperative, speak, and to use tools to make up for a smaller size."

Eletha interrupted, "Hang on – I'll show you an image." She held up her PADD and a holograph popped into being above the display.

Wilkes mouth dropped open, "A sabertooth tiger!"

"A what?" Eletha asked.

"It looks a lot like a pre-historic Earth carnivore called a sabertooth tiger. No tail, huge size, giant teeth, and just unhappy about life in general."

Eletha tapped on her PADD for a few moments, "Oh yes – here." and a second image appeared next to the narak. "It does look similar. But you'll note that the narek is longer, doesn't have the big shoulders, and the teeth aren't quite as long."

"Long enough!" Wilkes laughed. "We're going to hunt those with _spears?!_"

"Oh yes." Corin licked his lips again. " They're delicious. When you face one, just you and it, let me tell you that's when you will come face to face with who you are, Wilkes. There's nothing like it. Your strength, courage, and skill against his. A lot of people don't come back from these trips. But, if we don't thin them out, they tend to come down to the cities and start preying on younger kits. We like them to stay a bit more up in the mountains where they belong. But the bigger ones have the best territory there. So, we clear some out there and the younger ones have a chance rather than coming down to where we are."

"So we're going to gear up, climb into the mountains and hunt a sabertooth tiger with a spear. Are you sure we can't call the _Delos?"_

"Gear up? Who said anything about gear, Wilkes? Traditionally, you should be naked when you start. You get to wear clothes because you're all bald. Anything else you want, you have to make along the way..."

It was early afternoon when S'arleth beached the longship at a narrow strand at the foot of a range of hills. As the four of them were disembarking, she grinned evilly and said, "We'll come back and pick up whatever's left of you in two days."

As they stood on the beach, Wilkes looked into the distance, seeing the mountains rising up enough in the distance to have snow, even during this warmer season. The hills started out with scrub, moving into the same kind of trees that he always saw as haunted. Further, up, they looked greener. "How far up do we go?" he asked.

"How high depends upon the naraks! Usually we do this as individuals, but you don't know enough about our planet yet. So, we're going to stick together and teach you as we go." Corin hoisted his pack, looking up ahead with a big smile and eager excitement.

Looking up as well, Eletha spoke, "But don't think it'll be a team event when we find one! Whoever spots it first gets it!"

As they started off, Wilkes shook his head again at the Dosadi thirst for challenge and trial. Teasingly, he asked Sooth, "So, feel good to be rid of the extra weight and hassle?"

Looking down her once-again flat chest she sighed happily, "You have NO idea. I'm so glad they weaned so early. I really do not know how human women put up with that nonsense all their lives."

Wilkes looked at her wryly and she continued, "I know what you're thinking monkey-boy! Kalea told me all about human males' fascination with those." She flicked her tail and sped up the hill while Corin and Eletha laughed at him.

Late the following morning, he was surprised both at how far they had traveled and how much higher they were. The night had been chilly – fortunately, he thought, he had 3 self-heating furry blankets to keep warm with. Puffing with exertion, he shrugged his shoulders against the ruck's straps and increased his pace again to keep from falling behind.

As they crested a small ridge, Corin paused and said, "You're doing well so far, Wilkes! You haven't broken anything, fallen off a cliff, eaten anything poisonous, or been eaten! Even your spear's pretty good, although I'll admit the point is a little strange."

Wilkes hefted his heavy spear. "I studied some anthropology at the Academy and that included a workshop in how to make stone tools. The instructor wanted us to learn that primitive didn't mean stupid. I wonder if he had you guys in mind..."

Eletha laughed and asked "It just looks different than any I've seen before."

"It's my own modification. Stone points look the same from one tool-using culture to the next. That's just a fact of how edged weapons work and how stone fractures no matter what planet you're on. Like your classic Dosadi knife – that's basically a Celtic leaf-blade. A knife is shaped the way it is because of what it has to do – there's just not that many variations that are possible.

But you can put in a few twists – I left some large spurs on mine so that it acts like a flechette going in...and coming out. It should do a lot more damage than a normal point."

"Well, you should get a chance soon. " Corin said. "This is perfect territory for naraks. I think you know enough to not get into any trouble for the next little bit. Let's all split up for an hour or two then meet back here and we'll see how we did! Just remember to keep your eyes, ears, and nose open. They like to hunt too."

"Thanks." Wilkes said dryly. The group split up and went in four different directions. As he walked, Wilkes headed down into a draw, trying to listen and smell for anything unusual. The problem was that as an Earthling, _everything_ was unusual. The net result was that he was constantly starting at shadows and over-reacting to harmless sounds. Getting disgusted with himself after being startled by what appeared to be the Dosadi version of a chipmunk, he decided to relax for a bit.

Sitting down with his back to a large rock, he put down the spear he had been pointing at the chipmunk and laughed at his own fears. To the chipmunk he said, "Well, I suppose if I brought YOUR head back it wouldn't be much proof of my courage, so consider yourself fortunate, 'munk." The little furry critter stared at him with beady eyes, then with a flick of it's ridiculously long, narrow tail, disappeared.

Not a moment later, he quickly reached back down for the heavy spear and leapt to his feet, spinning around with his weapon at the ready. Standing upon the rock he had been relaxing against was a large, male narak, looking down at him. In person, it was bigger, uglier, and smellier than he thought possible.

The narak studied him, trying to decide just what he was. Dosadi didn't have a class of primates Wilkes' size or color or smell. That niche was filled by several species of mid-sized tree-dwelling rodents not unlike flying squirrels. Growling, the creature decided that whatever it was, it was meat, it was in his territory, and it must be lunch.

Wilkes tried to swallow in a very dry throat as the thousand-pound sabertooth – it didn't matter what the Dosadi called it, the thing was a sabertooth tiger – gracefully jumped off the rock, out of the reach of his spear, and began a slow, growling approach. "Well, I wanted a challenge." he thought to himself. Steeling his nerve he said, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!"

The narak paused, trying to evaluate the strange noises his lunch was making. Deciding they weren't much of a threat display, he resumed his approach, slinking closer, getting ready to make the sudden, short rush that would allow him to wrestle lunch to the ground and slash its throat open with his fangs.

Wilkes circled away, watching the terrain for any advantage that he could take. Getting the big rock to his back, he crouched low, spear at the ready and challenged the narak, "C'mon, kitty...Take your best shot." He hoped his voice wasn't wavering too much and that the damn thing didn't notice his knees were shaking. Then he thought to himself, "Great, I'm a zillion miles from home, about to be killed by a pre-historic monster and I'm worried about impressing it before it eats me."

The narak had had enough. This prey wasn't behaving normally at all. In any case, he was hungry, and it looked small, weak, and smelled frightened. Crouching low, he narrowed his eyes, gauging the distance to Wilkes and sprang into the attack.

Wilkes watched the narak crouch, its rear-end working as it dug its hind claws in for traction. "Now I know what the mouse feels like..." but he steeled himself, holding the heavy spear in a tight grip, parallel with the ground, ready to adjust his aim. There was a blur of motion as the half-ton predator raced towards him. Wilkes butted the haft of his spear against the rock, desperately trying to aim the point into the thing's center-mass when the impact nearly knocked him off his feet.

The spear shaft splintered and broke, but he managed to keep one hand on the part of the spear still stuck in the narak as it screamed in agony and rage, trying now to slam on the brakes and back away from the horrible thing in front of it. Wilkes quickly brought his other hand up to grab the shaft of the spear as the narak began thrashing, great gouts of blood coming out of its throat from the spear lodged in its chest.

Wilkes struggled to rip the barbed spear-point back out of the narak as a massively clawed and muscled front paw slammed into his right arm. "MOTHER FUCKER!" he screamed in anger. He pulled back hard while kicking the thing in the face with his right leg and was rewarded with another gout of blood as the spear came free, ripping with it a good-sized chunk of the narak's internal workings.

Both of them bloody now, they again began to circle each other, the narak gurgling bloody froth and Wilkes dripping blood from 3 deep gashes across his right arm. When he had the creature with its back to the rock, Wilkes charged, screaming like a banshee. The narak, badly hurt and confused, tried to back away but had nowhere to go and Wilkes again drove the stone-tipped spear deep into the thing's chest, twisting as he did so. In moments, it was over.

Panting from the fight, Wilkes realized he had to do something about the gashes in his arm before he bled to death himself. Besides, other predators could smell blood and there was a ton if it around here now. Pulling his shirt off, he used the spear point to cut it into strips and clumsily tied several pressure dressings on the tears in his arm. He wouldn't be using THAT for a while. It was already starting to stiffen. As he looked around for the right sized sapling for another spear shaft he saw Corin.

The big Dosadi was crouched on top of another rock above the one the narak had been on, and was putting his PADD away as he stood up. "Well done, Wilkes! I don't think I've ever seen quite that approach before, but it worked!"

Dumfounded, Wilkes asked "What are you doing here? I thought you went North?"

"I did." he chuckled as he made his way down the rocks. "I was following this one's trail. I knew I was only a minute or so behind him, and then I saw you."

"Just now?"

"No, just when you jumped up – I caught sight of the narak and wondered what he was looking at when you stood up. But Wilkes...'here kitty, kitty, kitty?'" he laughed.

A suspicion came over Wilkes. "Wait...You saw all that...what were you doing with the PADD?"

"Why Wilkes! Whatever would I be doing with a PADD?" He laughed, "Mind your own business. Time to learn how to butcher these. There's a lot of meat here we can take back as well as the skin and the teeth and claws can be traded as well. You'll want to make a drag or it'll be too heavy."

"We're taking it back? By hand?!"

"Of course. Why would you waste it? And since you had the honor of battling it, you get the honor of bringing it home!" Seeing Wilkes' look of dismay he laughed, "Don't worry, we can help, that's allowed. Now, take your stone point and make the first cut here..." And he bent to his task.

Two days later, all four of them were back aboard the longship, Wilkes laying amidships trying to get the kinks out of his back, shoulders, and his injured arm. The other three had indeed helped, but Wilkes had to push himself to his limits carrying the majority of the meat and skin. As he lay there, he heard uproarious laughter coming from the tent that covered the center of the boat. Groaning, he got to his feet and poked his head in to be greeted by a cry of 'Again! Play it again!'

There, projecting off of Corin's PADD was a small holographic image of himself, and a moment later he heard his own, slightly wavering voice saying "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!"


	6. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5**_

_The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife. _

_- Ferengi Rule of Aquisition #48._

T'ELSH, DOSAD

MARCH 2273

Jons and his wife Marin stepped off the shuttlecraft into the humidity and heat of a Dosadi mid-day. As they paused trying to acclimate themselves to a new world, a gruff voice behind them rasped in Klingon "VIH pa' vo' lojmit!" (roughly, 'move out of the door!'). Stepping to the side, they watched a large Klingon trader stride past them and away from the landing pad. The Colonel shook his head and offered his arm to his wife, looking around his environment.

"Colonel Jons!" he heard his name called and finally caught sight of Wilkes. Smiling at the young man, he waved and he and his wife made their way over to the edge of the cleared field where their shuttlecraft had set down.

"Lieutenant Wilkes, I would like to introduce you to my wife, the Lady Marin."

Both an officer and a gentleman, Wilkes bowed and said, "It is a great pleasure. I was only expecting the Colonel, so this is indeed an extra treat! May I present to you both, Force Leader Corin and his mate, Lieutenant Eletha."

After the introductions, they began to walk from the landing field towards the cluster of roundhouses that made up the closest portion of the city. Wilkes said, "I really am delighted to see you both Colonel, but I am surprised. Hydrans aren't exactly common on Dosad, you couldn't know how you'd be received here; Why take the risk?"

Jons looked up at the taller man and explained, "When a man seeks battle, he brings only himself and his men. When he seeks peace and commerce, he brings his wife."

Laughing, Wilkes said, "My wife's a Marine. I think that might confuse the issue..."

"Speaking of which, where is the Lady Sooth?" he asked.

"She's at home with the kits, which sounds a bit more like your culture, Colonel." he smiled.

"Please, Lieutenant, I hope to do business with you – I am Seins to my friends."

"And my first name is actually Thomas, but the Dosadi only use one name and in Starfleet we generally only use last names, so I'm Wilkes most of the time. Feel free to call me either. "

Eletha spoke up, "It was good to meet you both. Corin and I are going to go find where our four kits have gotten to before they get into _too_ much trouble for one day. They're getting to the age where if they can't find some sort of mischief, they'll make it themselves."

As they entered the roundhouse, Jons looked around bemusedly. The building would befit a peasant family on his own lands, but as a diplomat, he kept his thoughts to himself.

Waving them inside, Wilkes said, "Make yourselves comfortable, please – there aren't that many rooms here so it shouldn't take me too long to find Sooth." grinning he said, "Watch your feet though, our kits are getting curious enough to explore anything and anyone." and he indicated the four pairs of very bright eyes and focused ears peering out of a low sleeping pad. "I'll be right back – please excuse me." and he walked through the door leading further into the interior.

Marin immediately went over to the little ones and crouched down to say hello. The smallest one, a spotted reddish-furred female dodged Marin and peered up at Jons. "What are YOU?"

Delighted, Jons kneeled down and said, "I am a Hydran little one. My name is Seins. What is your name?"

Sniffing and examining him with all the curiosity of small children everywhere, she said, "I'm Heather!"

As Jons was opening his mouth he heard a knife clearing its sheath behind him and an obviously very young voice demanding, "Get away from her! What are you? What are you doing?"

Moving his hands away from his body, the Colonel slowly stood and turned to face his attacker. Sizing him up he found a young, male Dosadi, perhaps seven or eight standard years old with knife in hand and suspicion written all over his face.

"Ah. You have great courage, my friend."

The youngster answered, "You better not be hurting them! I won't let you."

"And you have honor as well, protecting those smaller than yourself. But do you have wisdom too? The greatest warriors are the wisest warriors. You should know all you can about your foe before committing to battle."

The lad was feeling a little out of his depth. He was almost the same size as the little violet-skinned man in the strange clothing, but he wasn't acting afraid of him or his knife. But he'd backed away from Heather and he was showing empty hands and hadn't moved since he turned around. Why was he just smiling at him?

"Well...I didn't have time. I had to make sure you weren't hurting them. Now I can find out though." holding his knife at the ready he said, "I am Kaileen, the son of two warriors, Eletha and T'Laren and um. So who are YOU?"

Hearing the conversation, Wilkes and Sooth had poked their heads around the corner and were watching interestedly but taking no action yet.

"I am Colonel Sir Jons Seins, Royal Hydran Marines, and I have been in a hundred battles leading thousands of men, fighting with everything from my own two hands to phaser rifles to starships and I have emerged alive each and every time." He smiled, still not moving, "Now, you have drawn a weapon on me; in my culture, that is a challenge. I believe it is on Dosad as well, is it not?"

The boy swallowed hard. Corin and Eletha stepped inside and Eletha, every bit as suspicious as her son asked, "Colonel, what are you doing?"

The Colonel said, "Getting acquainted with this young warrior. He seems to want to test himself, m'Lady. You make allowances for training, do you not?" and he smiled and winked at her.

She frowned and Corin put his hand on her arm, "We do indeed Colonel. Kaileen, you are responsible for your words here. Speak freely, but remember that."

Looking at the various adults watching him intently, seeing the younger kits looking up with wide eyes and the little Colonel just smiling at him, he felt backed into a corner by his own pride. But the man wasn't very much bigger than him. And he'd been training. Standing tall he said, "I'm not afraid of you. You might have been hurting Sooth's kits so I was in the right. If you don't like that, then we can fight."

Eletha was just shy of growling, but Corin squeezed her arm and said, "Well, Colonel! Not on Dosad an hour yet and already heading to the challenge ring!"

Grinning at Corin he said, "The lad's courage impressed me. He deserves the chance to test that, don't you think? and speaking to Kaileen he said, "Shall we test each other without causing injury? I would be honored to face you in the ring."

His voice quavering a little the boy answered "Sure, that makes sense. I didn't know you were a guest."

By the time the little group had gotten to the local field, the word had spread that there was something unusual going on and a decent sized crowd had gathered. Looking at several pairs of Dosadi matching across the wide grassy area he asked, "Are there always challenges going on? I had read up on Dosadi culture, of course, but I didn't think it was that common."

Corin explained, "There's always people settling some argument or other, or just training, or just matching for fun. This is actually pretty slow today."

Wilkes said, "It's a great way to get all the anger and bad feelings out after a fight, and it makes making up even more fun." and he grinned at Sooth who swatted him.

Surprised, Jons asked, "You...fight with your wife? Physically?"

"All the time. She's a Marine, remember? She wins more often than I do. We have rules on what sort of contact, whether we wear pads or not, weapons or not, and so on. But it's awesome training as well as a lot of fun."

His wife clearly appalled, Jons shook his head and said "The more I encounter other cultures, the stranger they seem to me. On my world, men who raise their hands to their wives are the most despicable creatures, barely one step above those who hurt children."

Eletha, clearly unhappy interjected, "I'm glad to hear that Colonel, and I'll hold you to it. He's never had a real match before and he's still very young."

"You have my word, m'Lady. The young man is at about the same age my own son was when we started his training."

A few minutes later, Kaileen and Colonel Jons squared off in a circle of grass, with blunted knives in their hands. Crouching low, his knife weaving in front of him, Jons began circling opposite Kaileen.

Kaileen watched him closely as they moved, studying him. He wasn't very much bigger than the other youngsters he trained with, but he moved strangely. Deciding to try out his very best technique, he feinted with his right hand, swapping the blade to his left as he slashed up and into Jon's wrist.

As the blade came up, Jons dropped his knife, grabbed Kaileen's wrist in a two-hand hold and dropped flat onto his back, planting his feet firmly in the boy's belly and launching him through the air behind him, then rolling back onto his feet and picking up his own blade before the lad had even hit dirt.

Sooth chuckled, "I know THAT move. If he kicks instead of pushes, it hurts. Even through armor."

Kaileen landed fairly well, and rolled back onto his feet to some cheers from the watching crowd. Shaking his head, he tried to figure out just what had happened. Taking a moment to plan, he circled the other way, Jons staying in place this time and pivoting in a circle. He wasn't going to stick his arm out like that again. This time, he ducked in low, coming up with his knife held close and his other arm swinging up to block Jons' knife-hand.

Again dropping his weapon, Jons rolled in towards the boy, crouching even lower and tucking his shoulder under the rising knife-arm and grabbing his wrist. Standing quickly while using his arm as a lever, he again threw Kaileen away. This time the boy landed heavily, but still got back to his feet quickly.

The crowd cheered his tenacity and encouraged him to 'get back in there and get him!' with many of the watchers offering helpful suggestions. This time, Kaileen used more caution, circling, feinting, analyzing. Keeping his stroke short, he sliced at Jon's hand, only to hear the ringing clash of steel on steel followed by the roar of the small crowd. Feeling more confident, he continued his strikes, each time being blocked by Jons' blade.

After what he considered his best attack yet, Jons' knife quickly rolled around his blade, and Jons stepped in, twisting his wrist until he was forced to drop the blade. Surprised, he grabbed for Jons' arm and again found himself flying through the air. Getting back to his feet again, frustrated, sore, and now disarmed, he tried to think what to do. Nothing he had been taught seemed to have any effect upon the little man. Keeping his distance he continued to circle, trying think it through.

Finally, he stood upright and said, "I don't know what to do." disappointed, but not defeated he asked, "Will you teach me how you do that?"

With a laugh, Jons announced "I am undone! This one will be dangerous – he thinks and he is not afraid to learn from his enemy." Sheathing his own blade, he told Kaileen, "I would consider it an honor to teach you the Hydran style of combat. When you're small, you have to learn to use your size to your advantage."

As they exited the ring, Eletha was trying to be very unobtrusive while checking her son for injuries, much to his consternation.


	7. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER 6**_

_reH tay' ghot tuqDaj je. (One is always of his tribe./A person and his house are always together.) _

_- Klingon aphorism_

T'ELSH, DOSAD

MARCH 2273

Wilkes, Sooth, Jons, Marin and the four kits were enjoying an evening walk after sharing a meal. Marin and Sooth were lagging slightly behind, engrossed in their own conversation, punctuated with frequent giggles. Observing the kits, now three years old and growing fast, scampering through the greenery, Jons spoke to Wilkes, "Look at yourself, Wilkes. A respected family man and trader on an alien world. You've come a long way from your home village on Earth."

Wilkes shook his head, "I don't know _what_ I am any more, Seins. I'm a Starfleet Engineer with a power specialty, but Chief Engineer White just had me take OOD training, I'm..."

Jons interrupted, "OOD? I am not familiar with that acronym."

"Operational Ordinance Disposal" - basically it means I know how to disarm and de-power any weapons system out there from a Federation photon torpedo to a Klingon disruptor to an old-style dynamite bomb. He said since I had a tendency to blow up everything I got involved with I should learn how to _keep_ things from exploding. I think he was kidding...It was one of the toughest courses I've ever taken and it took almost 6 months! It's a good thing Sooth had ground-side duty here on Dosad then.

"But, as I was saying, I'm an Engineer, I'm a bomb tech, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a trader, I've gotten to be a pretty good oarsman on Tarleth's longship. I have to keep reminding myself of whatever I'm doing at the moment! I just thought I'd sign up with Starfleet, do a tour or two aboard a starship, and then end up back on Earth somewhere. This isn't anything like I imagined my life being like."

Colonel Jons smiled. "I wonder if anyone's life turns out the way they imagine it will be. Let's see! Sooth?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Huh?" she looked at him, interrupting her chat with Marin.

"Did you ever see yourself growing up to be an Imperial Marine, and a mother to 4 unique kits?" he smiled. That smile slowly faded away as an awkward silence stretched out.

Wilkes said, "That's kind of a touchy..."

Sooth spoke up, "No, it's OK, Wilkes. I did see myself becoming a Marine, Jons, but I didn't think I'd ever be a mother. I never wanted to be anything but a Marine since I can remember. I promised myself I'd never be weak again. Ever."

Always the intelligence operative, Jons asked "Is that a story you want to share? I would be interested in hearing it, if so."

They all continued to walk for a few paces and Sooth continued. "I'm trying to think where to start. My earliest memories are really confused. I don't remember my parents at all and no one knows who they were. What I do remember is when I was found, I..." she paused for a moment. "I was two when the _USS Zheng He _found me. They were a Federation research vessel. Way out from anywhere, really. But their sensors spotted some debris. So they stopped to see what it was. They found some pieces of a Dosadi freighter. Just a couple, spinning out in space, a long way from any other pieces, I guess. Bits of hull mostly. One of them had an escape pod still attached. It had never been launched.

"I was inside it. Since it hadn't launched, there was no power, nothing. I remember that. It was so dark and cold and it stank. The air was really, really bad by then. I remember them telling me when I asked about it that I must have been in it for about two weeks and couldn't have gone very much longer. The water had run out a couple days before they found me and the air was almost all bad.

"They told me I tried to attack them when they opened it. But I was too small and too weak to do anything. Just like I must've been when...Wait, I forgot. They said they were able to determine that our ship had been attacked, probably by pirates. There were phaser burn marks on the hull near the pod. So they think we got attacked and someone, my mom probably, put her kits into the pods and launched them but she died before she could launch mine. They said there was blood on the walls." She shuddered and then went on,

"I stayed aboard the _Zheng He_ for almost 3 years. The whole crew sort of adopted me but one of the astrophysicists and her husband were like my mom and dad. Even though they were human. They told me the whole story when they handed me off to the crew of a Dosadi destroyer they finally ran into on their way back to the Federation from their research expedition.

"I had figured out most of it already. I will never, I mean I swore it to myself way back then, I'd learn how to fight better than anyone and I'd never, ever be that weak again. I'd never be helpless. So, I was aboard the _Raleen_ for almost a year before we got back to Dosad. I spent all the time I could with the Marines. They were so amazing! That's what I always wanted to be.

"I didn't think I'd ever have kits though. It just didn't seem right to me, but then I met Wilkes, and my feelings changed pretty fast."

"Ah." Jons said, absorbing her story. "That explains much." Changing the subject in the silence after she finished he said, "On another topic, Wilkes, I have some more documents for you."

"Wilkes laughed, always the business man, eh, Colonel?"

His wife spoke, "Business is a duty that is often rewarding, Wilkes."

Jons laughed, "This is why a Hydran's wife manages the purse, Wilkes. And m'Lady here is probably the best there is. The Klingons and Romulons have both developed a taste for Dosadi hardwoods and incense. K'mpok will take any of both that you are able to come up with and is willing to pay handsomely. We can extract a tidy profit in the process."

"I don't see a problem with that. There's been some clearing going on around a couple of towns and several folks have started growing incense woods just for trade with us. Even N'Orel has gotten in on it and I'm not exactly his favorite person. He, um, doesn't like spies much."

"Done well, trade can change people's perceptions for the better. I have data rods for you to give to both K'mpok and N'Orel." Jons left unsaid that he knew Starfleet Intelligence would be making duplicates of both.

Wilkes chuckled, "There always seems to be documents going every which way. I had no idea trade involved so much documentation. And I thought engineering had mounds of paperwork..."

PARIS, FRANCE, EARTH

MARCH 2273

Federation President Chab jav Lorg stood looking out the windows of his office, gazing down at the streets of Paris.

The middle-aged woman sitting in front of his desk spoke again, "Mr. President, we are getting information from many sources that the overture is genuine."

Turning, he asked, "Noora, how do we know the Klingons aren't setting us up? We've tangled with them too many times for me to trust them straight away."

Noora Ahmed, the head of Starfleet Intelligence answered her President, "We've developed a rather unique source of information that gives us insight into the intelligence operations of many different powers and they all seem to be saying the same thing: That the Klingons are seeking a normalization of relations with the Federation. They could prove to be invaluable allies, Mr. President, and the resources that could be freed up if we no longer needed to maintain such a strong presence along our borders..."

Scrutinizing his intelligence chief, he asked, "And which services are saying this wonderful, hopeful thing?"

Hesitating, she finally answered, "The Hydrans, the Dosadi, even some sources we have within the Klingon Empire itself. The Orions are concerned that it would negatively impact their operations – peace is bad for piracy, as you know."

"And have they made any official overtures?"

"No sir, this is all either from intercepts, or from information discretely passed from one service to the next. It's all very deniable by all involved if it doesn't work out."

The President considered this. "And you can respond that we're interested in the possibilities in the same fashion? I don't want to read some trumped up story in tomorrow's papers that I'm negotiating away the Federation to the Klingons."

"Yes, sir. This won't get out. But the word will get back to the Klingon High Council."

"And Noora, promise me one thing. James Kirk isn't involved in this is he?"

She laughed, "No, sir. Not this time."


	8. Chapter 7

_**CHAPTER 7**_

_We knew we were talking about spies. I knew he knew I knew. I was digging my own grave. _

_- Christine Keeler, Earth (Human)_

OMRASHAR, ROMULUS

FEBRUARY 2274

Shar knew his time was running out. Logic dictated that he should have left Romulus months ago when it became apparent that his cover story was wearing thin. But there remained a respectable chance that he could fully penetrate the plot he had discovered, despite the risk. The Tal Shiar were most capable.

The gamble had paid off to some degree, however. The Romulons were involved in a broad-reaching plot that involved several powers. Exactly which ones, he was not yet sure. But what he had learned today required the greatest risk of all.

As he hurried down the street, his mind continued to work, trying to deduce what role a shape-shifter could have and what the full breadth of the plot was. There had been tantalizing hints, bits of incomplete data, and now this. But the pattern stubbornly refused to resolve. Detecting a pair of Romulons who were evidently tailing him, he began to realize that his time had run completely out. He computed his chances of making it to his contact at the construction company as 4.5%, +/-.

Reaching this conclusion, he quickly turned and entered the shop of a Hydran trader. "You must get this to your intelligence service, and to mine. This rod is a duplicate that can be surrendered..."

The door opened again and the bigger of the two men spoke "Don't move Vulcan. We are the Tal Shiar and we know who you are."

The little green-skinned man with the golden hair made one of the rods disappear up his sleeve and spoke quickly, "He attempted to give me this! I do not want it!" Handing it to the two men he continued, "I do not know him and want nothing to do with him. I will cooperate fully."

Taking the rod and confident that they had caught the spy in the act, the leader smiled. "We appreciate your help, Hydran. This will give us all that we need."

LONDON, ENGLAND, EARTH

MARCH 2274

Colonel Jons, at the Hydran Embassy in London, spoke to Assistant Attache' Lanad Mien. "This device must be implanted on the child tomorrow when they will be in London itself. That is where the best chance will be – and it must be done in such a way that no suspicion will befall us and no harm to the child. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. But won't you have more opportunity to do so yourself?"

"Are you an idiot? I am watched nearly constantly. My actions at all times must be above reproach and above any suspicion at all. Now attend to your duties with care, Mien. This is a delicate task, and it is yours alone."

"Certainly, Sir Jons. You may rely on me."

"I shall. I find I'm quite looking forward to this visit. It is always nice when duty and pleasure interact, is it not?" He smiled and headed out the door to his waiting transport.

Some four hours later in the very early afternoon, he stepped out at the transport terminal in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England only to be swarmed by a pack of young Dosadi children. Laughing, he scooped up the littlest one and rubbed her fur the wrong way. "Heather! You've gotten bigger." he accused. Meanwhile, the locals just stared at the wide variety of aliens now regularly showing up in their sleepy little village.

Catching sight of Corin and Eletha standing behind Wilkes and Sooth he said "Why, you two are here as well? I was surprised to see your four in this pack of kits."

Corin said, "Wilkes said that we were all invited for this religious holiday. His mother has apparently been cooking quite a feast. We were afraid you wouldn't be able to make it."

Turning to Wilkes he asked, "I researched the Easter festival before leaving Hydra of course, but I must admit I still don't fully understand some of the traditions associated with it Are there duties we will be expected to perform?"

Wilkes, holding Sooth laughed, "Not really. My parents are still followers of the old religion so they'd be THRILLED if we all went to services with them tonight, but all that involves for us is sitting there and listening and trying not to fall asleep." he winked as Sooth swatted him. "It's just a short walk from here to their house, if you can disentangle yourself from the kits."

As they walked, Wilkes tried to explain how a large rabbit, chocolate chicken eggs, and pretty hats came to be associated with the resurrection of an ancient religious figure. At the same time, Kaileen, Heather, and the other kits were constantly vying for his attention. By the time they reached Wilkes' parents house, Jons had become even more confused about Easter, but, diplomat that he was, gave no sign as to how very odd he thought the whole thing was.

Upon being introduced, Wilkes father stood and shook the Colonel's hand without any comment while Mrs. Wilkes kept up a steady stream of polite questions until Kaileen finally managed to disentangle him. "I have the board all set up just where we're at. I moved my knight to Queen's Level 3."

As Jons studied the Tri-D chess board, Mrs. Wilkes asked, "An are ye comin' t'service tonigh', then?'

Glad that Wilkes had given him some warning what to expect – and wondering if the large rabbit would make an appearance – he answered, "I would be honored to attend, if unbelievers are welcome, Mrs Wilkes'.

"Aye, all are welcome. An' ye ma' call me Heather, of course."

Bowing slightly Jons simply said, "Thank you, Heather. I hadn't realized that the little one shared your name."

Beaming with pride she said, "An a finer granddaughter one could na ask for." and headed off back into the kitchen.

Colonel Jons had attended many State dinners, diplomatic functions, and Royal Banquets, but he found nothing to complain about at Mrs Wilkes' table. The food was quite tasty, if simple, and tolerable to his Hydran digestion as well as that of the Dosadi, he noted. The conversation was what one would expect of a family dinner and he made sure to keep to topics that would be welcome in such a setting. But as always, part of his mind was occupied with his other business.

There had been hints of factions within the Klingon empire who wanted to derail the potential negotiations with the Federation. Hints of internal turmoil in the Empire and biological agents and genetic modifications. So many clues, but no real thread to bind them together.

Turning his full attention back to the table, he scanned the dinner guests. Two older humans, one young man, three adult Dosadi, four young Dosadi, four...hybrids, and one bemused Hydran Marine. Smiling to himself, he was struck again by how a fairly ordinary young human had somehow managed to become a bridge among several different cultures, seemingly without effort. Was it luck? A quirk of personality, or truly the design of God? His God was very different from the God of the rabbit and the Jesus figure, but it made no real difference.

After dinner, over tea, the conversation turned to the plan for the next day. "And so the trip to London tomorrow is just for entertainment, then?"

"Aye, an a bi' o' shoppin' o' course." Mrs. Wilkes answered.

Wilkes chimed in, "I haven't had a chance to show Corin, Eletha, or Sooth much of Earth yet so it should be fun to let them see one of our big cities. They're, of course, pretty different than Dosadi cities. And Mom's going to take the pack of kits down to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the like. They're very famous landmarks here."

"I always enjoy London when I get a chance to visit here. Usually my business takes me to Paris or Zurich." Jons took a sip of his tea, "The children should love it."

Some time later, while sitting in a pew in the Church of England, he overheard a confusing bit of conversation between two of the locals.

"Aye, I warned tha', an now ther's cats in the pews."

"Aye, an ye'd still rather they were sheep, na doub'."


	9. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER 8**_

"_The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley," _

_- Robert Burns – Earth (Human)_

LONDON, ENGLAND, EARTH

MARCH 2274

"That's gotta be them comin' now." the little man said to his two companions.

"Aye, how many talkin' cats are there in London, now?" the bigger one said and chuckled.

"Shutup." the third man whispered. "We want the little spotted one. Just nip 'er up right quick, distract 'er an slap the widget on, then we get paid. S'posed to be easy – curious as a cat." and he laughed quietly at his own little joke.

As the strangely mixed group of humans, Dosadi and Hydran strolled along the Victoria Embankment of the Thames, enjoying the bits of greenery, and the for-once decent English weather, little Heather ranged further than any of the others. Investigating a bright reflecting spot of light, she came upon three humans.

"What's that?" she asked the smallest one, pointing at the object in his hand that was sparkling in the sunshine.

"Aye, 'tis magic, now isn't it?" he smiled back at her.

"Really?" she leaned closer to try to get a better look. The other two had slowly worked around behind her as she examined it. He closed his hand and said,

"If you want to see how it works, I'll show you, but we need to go inside. If you really like it, I'll give it to you."

She started to follow, and stopped, looking over her shoulder. On Dosad, children are safe around anyone and are essentially raised by everyone. But her daddy had warned her not everyone was like that and that there were bad people out in the universe. He and mommy had to fight them sometimes. And something didn't seem quite right.

She took a half-step away from the man and his bigger companion grabbed her, cutting off her startled cry with his hand as the four of them quickly went into the public loo, carrying the struggling kit who was raking claws up and down the big man's hand and arm.

A short distance away, Kaileen's sharp ears had picked up that half-mew cry. Not quite knowing what it was he decided to find out – it had sounded a little like Heather.

So had Jons, who had lagged behind the rest of the group while trying to tempt a squirrel with a small treat so he could get a better look at it. Making a fast visual count of the little group he noted that the two most adventurous of all eight kits were out of sight. Frowning to himself, he headed up the grassy slope, trying to locate where he had heard that noise.

"Bloody 'ELL" the big man said dropping the struggling Heather inside the building, and backhanding her hard across the face, knocking her away and into the wall. "The little bitch cut me up good!"

She got back to her feet, hissing and trying hard to do what she had seen Jons and Kaileen doing so often in the challenge ring. As the little man reached for her arm she ducked under it and clawed at his leg, ripping pants and skin with all the fury her four-year-old body could muster.

Enraged, the man kicked her hard, flinging her into the wall. Stomping on her limp body, he heard a knife being drawn and another hissing scream. He spun around in time for Kaileen to drive the Hydran boot knife that Jons had given him into his femoral artery and through to his groin. Screaming and falling to the floor in a fountain of blood, he grabbed at the wounds, trying to stop the pain.

Kaileen tried to turn fast enough, but three adults on one child is not a fair fight. He managed to slash the big man's arm, but in doing so was slowed enough for the third man to grab him, the bigger man using his own knife now.

Hearing the sounds of the fight and with a sick feeling in his stomach, Colonel Jons raced into the small room. Seeing the silvery injector on the floor he instantly understood what had gone so badly wrong here. For once losing his cool, he scooped up the boy's knife and neatly gutted the bigger man who was still holding his knife in Kaileen's chest, then dropped down and under the third man's clumsy grab. In a moment, he drove his knife up as high as he could reach, puncturing the man's intestines and diaphragm. Had he been able to, he would have screamed in agony as he thrashed out his last minutes on the floor.

A glance was all it took to know that there was nothing he could do for Kaileen, and he moved rapidly over to Heather's crumpled and bloody form, pocketing the injector as he did so. A small, shuddering breath gave him some hope and he quickly took out the small first aid pouch he carried as a matter of course. "A quick hypospray of Tri-Ox and a wound spray on the big bleeder the man's boot had opened in her leg. Try to stabilize the internal injuries with the wand." he thought to himself. While he was working on her, Mrs. Wilkes and Corin were the first of the group to rush into the small public building. Mrs. Wilkes, horrified, covered her mouth with her hands, tears already welling up in her eyes.

"Call a medical transport, NOW." Jons ordered.

Corin pulled his com-set out of his belt and began calling for help. Eletha, crowding into the cramped space, knelt down and picked up her son's body, cradling him close to her and burying her face in his fur.

Wilkes, shouldering his way in to see if he could help, figured out quickly how the fight had gone down. Seeing the bigger man trying to pull his intestines back into his body he calmly walked over to him and stepped on them, scooping more of the organs out with his boot. As the horrified killer gasped his last agonized breaths, Wilkes said, "There is a very special place in Hell for you. I wouldn't want you to be late."

When the medics had left with everyone else, Jons was still explaining what he had found to the police inspector. "I was looking for both children when I heard a noise and went to investigate. When I arrived, this man here was dead from the knife wound to his leg. The second man there was obviously dying from the hole in his chest, and I was too slow to save the boy. He had slashed up into that man's stomach, but the man had enough left to stab the boy in the chest. But he obviously saved the little girl from whatever horrible thing these three wanted with her."

Examining the knife-wounds and the angles of entry the inspector said, "That seems about right. All these wounds are coming from someone a lot shorter than these three thugs. And the blood all over you, sir? 'Ow did that 'appen again?"

"As I explained, I had to move the gutted one to get at the girl so I could treat her. They're rather messy when their guts are out."

"Aye. That's true enough." Shaking his head he continued, "Damn shame though. The boy saved her and managed to kill all three of them. That's how it'll be in my report, Colonel. Thank you for your time. If I need anything more, I can contact you through the embassy."

"Yes. In fact, I need to go there now, briefly. Then I will be at Hospital. But the embassy will know how to reach me."

A short while later, Assistant Attache' Lanad was shocked to see Colonel Jons, still covered in gore, slam into the office. "Sir!"

"Shut UP. Do not SPEAK. Did you..." Jons paused to take a long breath. "Did you hire someone to take care of the duty that I entrusted to YOU? DID you?!"

"Sir, I..."

"DID. YOU. HIRE. SOMEONE?!"

"Yes, sir, I..."

"You inept ASS! You are a DISGRACE to yourself, your family, and your King! Your idiocy has cost me someone very dear to me, possibly two and COMPLETELY fucked up one of the most important operations we HAVE!"

"But I..."

"SILENCE!" Jons was breathing hard. Slapping Kaileen's knife on the desk he said, "I will give you ONE minute to make your peace with God. Then you will use this. If you take longer than sixty seconds, I will turn your entire family into paupers. I will crush them."

The man looked at the knife, looked at Jons and made his decision. Picking up the knife, he knelt on the floor and drove the blade into his own heart, collapsing on the floor.

Jons kicked him once, retrieved the knife and left for the hospital.


	10. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9**_

"_Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty." _

_- Mark Twain – Earth (Human)_

LONDON, ENGLAND, EARTH

DECEMBER 2274

That Christmas, President jav Lorg was again interviewing his intelligence chief in his Paris office. "I don't understand, Noora. This has been proceeding quite smoothly, We're almost ready to go public with the negotiations – The Klingons were even willing to have them held here on Earth! And now you're telling me something's wrong?"

Almost squirming in her chair, Noora Ahmed said, "We're not sure. The Intelligence world isn't about absolutes, Mr. President. But we're getting indications that the Dosadi and the Hydrans are not happy with a potential change in the balance of power. But that conflicts with all our other assessments, so we're not ready to assign it a high degree of certainty yet. We've also gotten hints about a bio-terror plot within the Klingon Empire and something in the Romulon Empire that sounds bad. Something to do with shape-shifters in their latest government. But that sounds pretty mythical, so we've only given that a low-order probability. We're also hearing that they're so weak that they're interested in normalizing relations. I just don't like it when I've got this many contradictory signals all popping up at the same time."

He drummed his fingers on his desk. "So what have you got that you DO have confidence in?"

"Not a lot, sir."

"That's not acceptable. The Klingon Special Ambassador is coming HERE in one month's time. You will make every effort to resolve all these little mysteries within the next two weeks, is that clear? And you will give me the answers that I require."

T'ELSH, DOSAD

DECEMBER 2274

Back on Dosad, Wilkes and Sooth where having dinner with Corin and Eletha, with the usual rollicking band of kits causing mischief throughout the roundhouse. No one had yet really gotten used to the hole that Kaileen's death had left in all their lives, but death was a normal thing to the Dosadi, and Kaileen's death had been heroic and useful. Heather had healed quickly as children of all species seem to do, her indomitable cheerfulness keeping grief at bay.

Sooth had taken to carrying on her armor the Hydran knife that Kaileen had so cherished. Wilkes had asked her about that once. "So isn't it painful to have that with you all the time? To be reminded of that?"

"No, I don't look at it like that. His knife reminds me that he was a great person, with a big heart. That he gave his utmost to protect those dear to him, and that no matter the odds, he was not going to let size or strength or anything else stand in the way of doing what had to be done. His story is being told all over Dosad, and that's a sort of immortality, isn't it?"

"What's that you're putting all over it?"

She smiled, "It's an extract from one of our plants – it's an oil that keeps metals from rusting. Helps keep them sharp. And it seems to cause most other species to break out in a horrible itchy rash." She chuckled.

"Oh THAT stuff. It's like warp-powered poison ivy – keep it the heck away from me."

But that evening, everyone was enjoying an all-too-rare moment when all four of them were home on Dosad. As was normal in that culture, there were a few extra guests at the table, which only added to the enjoyment and the stories being told around it.

During a pause in the conversations, little Heather came up to Sooth and offered her a small package.

"What's this, kit?" she asked.

"Grammy Heather taught me how to make it. And she said Christmas is when we give presents to remember those who died for us and its s'posed to be something really special."

Opening it up, she found a pink heart, just about the size of her kit's hand. "Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"It's a sticker! If you put it on your helmet, it'll keep you safe, too. We prayed over it and she even had the vicar bless it so it'll work!" Heather continued with all the earnest belief of a child.

There were indulgent smiles all around as Sooth tried to explain, "Oh, Heather, it's lovely, but, my armor is all those special colors so that I'm hard to see. If I put this on it..." seeing her daughter's expression, she changed her mind in mid-sentence, "...um, on the side, it'll keep me safe and bad people won't be able to see it, but I'll know it's there."

Wilkes was trying to hide a smile, as were Corin and Eletha. A pink heart on battle armor would be something to see – and would likely attract the Captain's attention as well.

Heather said, "You have to promise me, mommy. Grammy Heather said you never break a promise."

Trapped, Sooth said, "Oh, Heather, I promise. I'll put it on my helmet when we go aboard again."

Getting a kiss and a lick from her smallest kit, she carefully set the sticker aside, wondering how she was going to manage to live up to that particular promise.

One of the visitors, N'Orel himself, asked "When do you all report back aboard?"

Sooth answered "We've got almost 6 weeks until we're done refitting the _Delos_ with all her new fighter upgrades. So we get a little vacation, and it works out perfectly – Starfleet's given Wilkes detached duty until the _Delos_ can rendezvous with the _Hood_ after that. He just works in Engineering with us.

Eletha chuckled "Starfleet lets you spend more time on Dosad and the _Delos_ than your own ship, Wilkes! And didn't you spend six months on Earth doing all that training? Do your shipmates even know you any more?"

"You kidding?" Wilkes laughed back, "Chief Engineer White and Commander Thelev seem to know pretty much everything I ever do anywhere."

N'Orel asked again, "Then we'll have time to conclude our current dealings with K'mpok?"

"Sure. No problem with that at all. We should be able to wrap that up in a couple of weeks."

"And when is the tame Hydran spy coming to visit again?"

That got chuckles from pretty much everyone around the table. Before Wilkes could answer, Eletha spoke, "We've communicated quite a lot since Kaileen's death. He seems to blame himself for not getting there fast enough, or for what he taught him. I keep trying to explain to him that no one sees it that way – Kaileen was a warrior. Jons gave him the tools he needed to protect others. Anyway, I've told him to come visit soon and to bring his family. He said he's very busy on Hydra with other business but he'll be here in a month or so. Since he didn't say what it was, I assume it's spying."

More chuckles and even N'Orel tried to hide a smile.

At the pause, one of the dinner guests pulled out a flute and began to play a bouncy tune, only getting a few notes into it before Eletha's little girl Ceena picked up a small drum and began to keep time. In a few minutes, everyone was either playing or singing along.

Hours later, after songs, stories, and more than a little bit of the green Dosadi version of whiskey, folks began to drift off to find someplace to sleep. As Corin curled up around Eletha, nuzzling her as she dropped off to sleep, he wondered just when he had decided that they were mates. It had to have been shortly after Sooth's kits were born. And again he thought about Nollos. They were so different.

Holding her tightly to him, listening to her breathing getting deeper, he felt that was a good thing. Things were finally settling down in everyone's lives.


	11. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER 10**_

"_Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.." _

_- Larry Kersten – Earth (Human)_

FEDERATION HEAVY CRUISER USS YORKTOWN, IN ORBIT OVER TOULAGAI

JANUARY 2275

Aboard the _USS Yorktown_, Captain Andrey Kamov gave the orders to put his ship in a parking orbit over the Starbase at Toulagai, right alongside the Klingon D7 battlecruiser _Rage_ that awaited them.

As always, his chief helmsman, Lieutenant Commander Akemi Yoshida handled the big Constitution-class heavy cruiser like it was her private sports car.

Kamov instructed his bridge crew: "I want you all to keep a close eye out. This starbase is cursed. Every time something weird is going on, it happens here."

That brought a few chuckles from the bridge crew. But, for once, everything proceeded smoothly. The two ships moved out of orbit and began to head into Federation space, the _Yorktown_ leading the way. The rendezvous with the _USS Hood_ was only two days away at a nice easy pace.

PARIS, FRANCE, EARTH

JANUARY 2275

In his Paris office, President jav Lorg was less than happy with Noora Ahmed. "The Ambassador is four _days_ away from the most important negotiations of our time. We may end the most destructive relationship in the galaxy and you cannot tell me if they're serious, what our allies think about the situation, nor what the Romulons intend."

"That's not entirely true, sir."

"Then clarify because that is what I got from your report."

"Mr. President as I've told you before, intelligence is never about certainties. At this time our best analysis tells us that the strongest faction in the Klingon Empire is serious about these negotiations, but that there is significant opposition within the Empire. We have been unable to substantiate any of the leads about bio-weapons being used within the Empire. Although our main diplomatic channels indicate that the Dosadi and the Hydrans are thrilled with the upcoming negotiations, we believe that their actual feelings are that such an alliance would make them...secondary. Useless, if you will. Currently they both enjoy the status of strong trading partners and allies. Were things to settle with the Klingons, they would serve no real purpose in that area of space.

"As to the Romulons, nobody really knows. They are still in chaos after the Razing of Romulus, however, we believe that all their efforts are focused internally. They lack the strength to make any serious effort to affect our actions. And I still believe that stories of shape-changers are just that. Superstitious nonsense used to explain failed coups or bad decisions. 'It wasn't ME! It was a SHAPE-CHANGER!"

The President chuckled, "That's funny. But there's still a lot of mealey-mouthed qualifications in that report, Noora."

"That's the best we've got, Mr. President. I think we're on the right course, but we need to be careful."

"What two ships are handling the escort duties for the Ambassador?"

"_Yorktown_ is bringing him to the mid-point and _Hood_ is bringing him the rest of the way to Earth, Mr. President. In fact, _Yorktown_ should have just left Toulagai."

"Thank god. No _Enterprise._ If something horrible is happening, Jim Kirk and his crew are usually involved. That makes me feel better." He thought for a moment. "Let's do this. Send Kamov and Karmes the same assessment you just gave me. Can't hurt to have them informed so they can take precautions."

"Yes, sir."

T'ELSH, DOSAD

JANUARY 2275

N'Orel's ears went flat back against his skull as he read the report on his PADD. Searching quickly through the pile of data rods in his lockup, he extracted two. Inserting them into the device, he began to instruct the device and its computer tie-in to perform an analysis.

Minutes later, he used his com-set to contact K'mpok. "The ambassador your Empire is sending to the Federation. Is he en route?"

"Of course. I received a report just a few minutes ago."

"Then explain to me why I just received a report from a source within the Orion pirates that his d'k tahg is available for sale? There are a number of disturbing reports about your ambassador and where he has, or more significantly, has not been."

"You know a disturbing amount about the happenings in my Empire, N'Orel."

"Don't be a child. We both know we each have many spies watching the other. I am sending you some data now. Examine it immediately."

There was a pause of a few minutes. "N'Orel, this is not possible. This is a myth."

"I would wager that your system came up with the same percentage that mine did, K'mpok. The old data the Hydrans shared with us from the Vulcan spy would seem to confirm it."

"But for what purpose?"

"There can be only one purpose."

"Such a war would kill trillions, N'Orel. Even a Klingon victory would be Pyrrhic. We would rule an empire of the dead and damned."

"Or the Romulons would."

"No, as you well know our war plans involve them as well. In their current weakened state, they could be wiped out quickly leaving us free to deal with the Federation, but with their resources to draw upon. And I know you've shared that information with your Federation friends, so don't bother to deny it."

"We must stop whatever that is from reaching the earthlings. Sending a message would be pointless – who would believe us?"

"You realize how that will look to both the Federation and to the crew of the _Rage_? They will think your people are trying to prevent the peace they seek."

"But there will be time to explain...afterwards. And at such a level as this sort of information can be exchanged."

"I will do what I can with my government. It will not be much. There is...some internal conflict. Good luck, N'Orel. We may not meet again, you know."

"Indeed, but that's a long journey yet, K'mpok. And the gods alone know its end."

DUCHY OF THE SWORD WORLDS, HYDRAN KINGDOM

JANUARY 2275

Sitting in his office, Colonel Jons was struggling to make sense of a number of conflicting reports. The data from Romulus had only gotten worse since the tip they got from the Vulcans last year. And the information coming out of the Klingon Empire was even more confusing.

Unless he missed his guess there was an active attempt at genetic engineering going on within at least one faction within the Empire and rumors of biological weapons being created. Such weapons were beyond insane – no rational culture would use them as once they got loose there was no telling what could happen. Mutations, alterations, and of course, reprisals in kind. That way led to the extinction of all interstellar culture and probably all life in the galaxy.

Sliding another data rod into his PADD, he felt himself go icy cold. The report told of a highly-specialized device being constructed on one of the rim worlds. Designed as a semi-stasis container about the size of a briefcase that could release it's contents under a slight positive pressure so as to be unobtrusive.

Such a device could only be used for one thing: Bio-terrorism. Could the Klingons be planning such an attack upon the Earthlings? How would they even get it through the usual scanners? There was no way to get it onto the planet.

Moving to another report, he noted that the Klingon Ambassador had just left Toulagai for Earth. With any luck, those negotiations would bear very profitable fruit. And then it hit him. They could get such a device onto Earth the same way he once got a large amount of data OFF of Earth – Diplomats were not searched by custom and by interstellar law.

But if the Ambassador himself were part of the plan, sending a message would be futile. Given time, he could present the information to the right people and make things plain, but there was no time. The Ambassador's ship must be stopped first, or the galaxy would go up in flames. The Earthlings would blame the Klingons if their ambassador released such a weapon on Earth, and stop at nothing for revenge. Had the Klingons gone insane? There was no time.

Opening a com-link he contacted his headquarters. Unfortunately, the only ship currently available was the light cruiser _Succession_. He knew the _Rage_ to be a D7-class battlecruiser and she was escorted by a Federation heavy cruiser. The _Succession_ stood little chance of winning such a fight. With luck, he could get the Federation captain to listen to him.

Minutes later, the _Succession_ left orbit at high warp.


	12. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER 11**_

"_Only a fool fights in a burning house." _

_- Klingon aphorism_

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT CARRIER, ISS DELOS, UNDER WAY

JANUARY 2275

Aboard the _ISS Delos_ as it raced to catch the Klingon ambassador's D7, Wilkes was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. "I'm not really trained for this kind of combat, Sooth, and don't you have armor designed for a human? At all?"

She laughed, "We don't use a lot of human Marines, Wilkes. You'll get used to it – just stop fighting it and wear it like all the clothes you people wear all the time!"

"Sooth, we're not built the same as Dosadi..."

"Mmm. I know." she smiled a wicked little smile at him. "C'mon, relax and let it hang on you as naturally as you can, stop hunching your shoulders and be glad you don't have a tail to deal with. Jons said there's a bio-bomb on board, that means you have to figure out how to turn it off. But no one will believe it except us, that means we have to do an assault boarding, and that means you have to wear armor."

Looking at the helmet in the crook of her arm he smiled, "I absolutely love that you still have that pink heart on your helmet."

She looked down and stroked it with one finger, "I promised. I got extra duty for that, but Force Leader Inveth said I could keep it since I promised. I really should at least paint over it though."

"Why? Why do you even bother with camouflage paint? With all the enhanced sensors that everyone uses does it even matter?"

She laughed again, "Take a look. Put your helmet on then use your chin to hit the big button on the right."

Doing as he was told, he clicked the button and watched his faceplate turn to a nauseating, cycling fuzz around where Sooth was standing. "Gaaaa!" He quickly chinned the button again, turning off the enhancements. "What the hell was _that?_"

The patterns and colors and paints are designed to mess up the computer sensors so they get into a feedback loop. It forces our enemies to use regular vision. I never understood why Starfleet never used the technology. Those bright gold and red uniforms are pretty, but man they're easy to hit!"

He paused for a moment and then said, "What's it like? All the combat I've been in was ship to ship. I never even saw the people I was fighting."

"It's the most terrifying exhilarating, horrifying, exciting, terrible, fun thing I've ever done. I always feel like I have to pee, and sometimes throw up, but you feel so alive. The contest between you and them is...I don't really know how to explain it. But I love it."

"What if I screw it up?"

She laughed again, "Wilkes, everyone thinks that. Besides, all you have to do is stay close by me and I'll get you to the bomb thingy and you figure out how to turn it off. And if you have to shoot someone, make sure they're wearing something other than our battle armor. Oh, or Hydran battle armor. They're easy to identify – they're really short and their armor is beige."

"BEIGE? Why in God's name did they pick beige?"

"No one knows. They claim that it's hard to see aboard a ship and that as a neutral color it blends in well with everything – but I don't think it fuzzes sensors like ours does."

"What do the Klingons wear?"

"The Klingons are crazy." she chuckled, "They don't really wear armor much except what's in their standard uniforms, which are sort of half-armor. If you see anyone who's really tall and really ugly, shoot them. Don't shoot the short people or the cats."

Now it was Wilkes' turn to laugh. "Right. No kitties, no shorties. Shoot the uglies."

ROYAL HYDRAN LIGHT CRUISER SUCCESSION, UNDER WAY

JANUARY 2275

Colonel Jons was dressed in jet-black battle armor with the crossed swords indicating his rank emblazoned on the upper arms in silver. Completing his inspection of the two squads of Marines aboard, he turned to their Captain and said, "Well, Captain, they look ready. I wish we had been able to get the whole company back aboard though, but there just wasn't time."

"Thank you, father. I was trained by the best, you know."

Looking at his eldest son in his dark grey armor he said, "Flattery? I should put you on extra duty. I would imagine your Marines could come up with an adequate punishment for such foolishness." There were a few chuckles among the gathered troops and the Colonel continued, addressing them directly. "This is not going to be easy. We must overtake a Klingon warship – our allies – get past their Federation escort – also our allies – board them, locate and secure a camouflaged biological weapon about the size of a briefcase, secure their ambassador, and then defuse the bomb. All without starting a war with either of our allies.

"If we can secure the device, we can prove what we say. If we secure the ambassador alone, we may be able to prove it. If we fail to do either, we are without hope. Our Duke will deny us in order to save the Kingdom. We will be treated as rogues and traitors, our families will be destroyed and our names will become a badge of shame.

"There is no option for us but success. Can I count on you men to do your duty to the utmost? Beyond any limit of pain, endurance, or stamina that you can imagine?"

There was a loud chorus of "YES, SIR!" and he said,

"Excellent. We intercept the _Rage_ within an hour. Make your peace with God and prepare yourselves. Know that if we succeed, those of us who fall need not worry about our families. Dismissed!" And he turned to leave the beige-clad men alone before battle.

IMPERIAL KLINGON BATTLECRUISER RAGE, UNDER WAY

JANUARY 2275

Ambassador Voreeth was standing by the defense officer's position aboard the _Rage, _watching everything. The Captain hated this habit of his and made no secret of his loathing of both his person and his mission. Not that either mattered. His honor would lead him to carry out his mission no matter what his personal feelings.

When the _Succession_ dropped out of warp he said, "Captain, the Hydrans are known to be against these negotiations. We must not allow them to interfere in any way."

Snarling the captain said, "You don't need to remind me of my job."

"Sir, they're attempting to hail the _Yorktown_."

"Jam them!" the ambassador ordered. The Captain nodded and the defense officer turned on the powerful jamming fields.

"Captain, they may attack us at any moment. The Hydrans are well known to be treacherous when anything threatens their business interests."

Nodding curtly he issued his orders, "Energize the defense fields and raise shields. Power the weapons but do not target anything. At the first sign of hostile action, we'll engage."

FEDERATION HEAVY CRUISER USS YORKTOWN, UNDER WAY

JANUARY 2275

"Sir, you're not going to like this." Ensign Singh said from his console at the Sensory station aboard the _Yortktown_.

"What is it?" Captain Kamov asked.

"The Hydran light cruiser _Succession_ just dropped out of warp and is closing fast."

Lieutenant 'Swede' Johansen interrupted, "Captain, they're requesting an urgent conference about something, but we just got cut off by heavy jamming from the _Rage_."

"What the hell? Why would they start jamming now?" He wondered if the Klingons had gotten the same warning from their intelligence people that he had received from Starfleet.

"They've raised shields and are powering weapons." the defense officer said a little too loudly, "_Succession_ too!"

Shaking his head Kamov ordered, "Raise ours – Helm, move us into position between those two, Swede, try to raise both of them. We need to talk, not shoot. The _Hood's_ supposed to only be an hour or two out , try to raise them too. Maybe we can scare them off, not that there's a lot a light cruiser can do against two cruisers."

As Yoshida moved the _Yorktown_ into position, Singh spoke up again, "Oh snot. Captain, the _Delos_ just dropped out of warp, she's running at us at high speed. Shields up and loaded for bear."

"She's a carrier – has she launched any fighters?" Kamov was NOT happy. His two cruisers were ill-equipped to deal with either fighters nor the many missile launchers aboard the Dosadi assault carriers. But she was alone – that was totally against Dosadi doctrine. What the hell was going on here?

"No sir – she's oh, snot. The _Rage _just took a shot at her."

"Yoshida?"

"Captain, I can be in one place, not two."

"Dammit, I am NOT going to get caught in this shit AGAIN."

"The Klingons are engaging both the Hydrans and the Dosadi, sir – what do we do?"

Yoshida spoke up, "Captain, the _Rage_ is maneuvering around us in order to engage both vessels – I can't stay between them and anyone. If I block one ship,they engage the other. Should I pick one to protect?"

"Dammit, no! Weapons, aim for the weapons pods on the _Delos_. Shoot to disarm only."

"Sir! The _Hood_ just..."

"Hot damn, can we get them to...Fucking jamming! AH, hell, they'll figure it out. Yoshida, try to block the _Succession_, maybe Karmes will get between the _Delos _ and the _Rage_."

"Sir," the stress in Yoshida's voice was obvious, "Sir...ranges are getting really, really close this is too tight." Collision alarms sounded throughout the _Yorktown_.

Singh yelled out "Transporter beams!"

"Where?" Kamov went pale, "Security – full armor, stand by to repel boarders!"

"Aimed at the _Rage_ sir! From both vessels I can't tell what they got through but ECM levels just spiked through the roof and the _Rage _is maneuvering for range and maintaining fire on both."

"Get us in close – we'll beam in reinforcements for the Klingons."

Singh commented, "Sir, they might not see it like reinforcements..."

"They'll figure it out fast enough when we start shooting the same people. I can't believe they're stupid enough to think they can jump an ambassador in Federation space and get away with it. That's ballsy even for the Dosadi. And it's totally nuts for the Hydrans. Something stinks here."

A short distance away, the _USS Hood_ had come to the same set of conclusions. The five starships were all maneuvering for position, except now the _Succession _and the _Delos_ seemed content to play keep-away, trading shot for shot with the Klingons but not engaging either the _Hood_ or _Yorktown_.


	13. Chapter 12

_**CHAPTER 12**_

"_They've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards." _

_- Unknown American Soldier, Battle of the Bulge, Earth (Human)_

IMPERIAL KLINGON BATTLECRUISER RAGE, MANEUVERING

JANUARY 2275

Wilkes was beyond terrified. Their team was pinned down in a corridor near where they thought the ambassador's quarters might be. He was trying to use a tricorder to locate the device but was not finding it. The sound of Klingon disruptor fire over his head was making it difficult to concentrate, as was the plasma rifle fire from his own side.

Sooth shouted at him, "Wilkes! We can't stay here! You have to tell us where to go!" She ducked moments before a disruptor bolt lanced through the space where her head had been, impacting on the wall and splattering him with molten metal.

"I can't find the fucking thing! Maybe it's not even here!" A round object came flying towards them and one of Sooth's Marines caught it and hurled it back the way it came. Wilkes saw it explode in a blinding flash before it got to the Klingon troops. Working the dials on his tricorder, he had an inspiration. Switching the device from scanning for biological organisms, he had it look for large power-sinks. If the thing had a semi-stasis field on it, it would suck power like nobody's … ahhh! "I got it! I got it! Two decks down, 30 meters east of here!"

She shouted orders to her two crew leaders, "Aletan, breach through the damn deck and we'll drop down, then set security there. Kurn, cover fire here, drop down last, then you blow that deck and swap jobs. Anyone see the Hydrans or the other team?" Wilkes saw her pop up and shoot a Klingon he realized was just about to shoot him. Putting her hand on his shoulder she said calmly, "Wilkes, remember to duck, OK?"

And then she was back on her belly, firing rounds at the Klingons. Seconds later there was a hissing flash and a meter square section of deck dropped straight down, closely followed by the first Marines. Wilkes dropped down with them, trying his best to take aimed shots but suspecting his accuracy was poor since even he could see the muzzle shaking.

They repeated the process and quickly dropped down to the deck where the device was located. Almost immediately Wilkes heard a shattering explosion overhead. Looking up into the swirling dust and raining chunks of deck he asked, "What the hell?"

A young Marine answered him, "We left a little surprise for if our friends wanted to follow us down." and he laughed. Let's go Wilkes! You're holding us up!" He got to his feet and raced off with his crew. Wilkes followed as quickly as he could, trying to refine the readings on his tricorder as he ran, the bulky, heavy armor, helmet, and plasma rifle making it seem like an impossible task.

30 meters is not a long distance to run. But it can seem like an eternity when you are wondering if you are going to be shot with every step. Wilkes screamed "This one! This one! Here!" and the Marines stopped and fell back, setting up a perimeter as he tried to get the door to open. While he was fiddling with the unfamiliar controls, a disruptor bolt hit just next to his hand and he dropped straight down to the floor, nearly wetting himself in reaction.

Sooth laughed, "That's better, Wilkes, but duck FIRST next time!" she sent another couple of rounds down range. "Aletan, blow the door! Ah, shit, cover me!"

Wilkes heart stopped as she jumped to her feet despite the weapons fire, ran the short distance to Aletan's crumpled form and dragged him back into what cover there was. As she rummaged through the wounded Marine's ruck for the rope-charges he saw two new gouges in her armor and then his eyes were drawn to the bright pink heart adorning the right side of her helmet. There was a surge in the ship's gravity and the lights went out, red battle-lanterns automatically switching on and adding an eerie glow to the battle.

"Sooth!" Crew Leader Kurn yelled, "We can't hold them much longer, this is not a good position."

As she opened her mouth to reply there was the high-pitched scream of rail-guns mixed with the deeper sounds of Klingon curses and shouts of rage and pain. Seconds later, Colonel Jons and a squad of Hydran Marines came running into their position shouting "Friendlies coming in!", being tracked by the Dosadi Marines every step of the way.

"What kept you?" Sooth laughed.

"We couldn't find the damn thing. Ended up scanning for Dosadi. Are you all that's left?"

"We never found our other team. You?" she began attaching the charges to the door.

"My son is leading the other squad. Our beam-downs were scattered."

"Your son? I didn't know...Later." she attached the detonator and said, "Get clear!"

Chief Petty Officer Kalea and her squad of Federation Security from the _Hood_ had finally managed to convince the Klingons that they were there to help, not invade. The _Yorktown_ security team had been dispatched to the fighting near the ship's bridge where one Dosadi team was pinned down. As they trotted to the fighting going on in crew quarters, she thought again how much she hated assault transports. She always felt that beaming through raised shields, no matter how much power there was behind the transporter, left something of her behind.

Coming upon the crushed remnants of a group of Klingons who had obviously been taken by surprise, they moved cautiously into position, her team mixed with Klingon warriors and she shook her head at the oddity. She had spent most of her career learning how to fight against these people, not alongside them. Shrugging her shoulders, she ordered her team to begin laying down cover fire.

Taking the lead position, she tried to study the enemy positions without being too exposed. They were not in the best of spots, she thought. They were in an angle where the Klingons could fire from two directions into their formation and there wasn't much cover. A moment later, her mouth hung open as she caught a brief sight of a bright pink heart on one of the Dosadi's helmets.

Sooth! What the hell was she doing here? Sooth wasn't a terrorist. This wasn't right. Making a fast decision on a gut instinct, she ordered her squad to cease fire.

Crewman Okoro shouted back, "What the hell? We got clear shots!"

"It's SOOTH! Something's seriously screwed up here."

"You sure? From when we took over the _Yorktown?_"

"Yeah. Pull back."

As her team pulled back, the Klingon leading their team yanked her to her feet, "FIGHT you coward! You said you came here to help and now you turn tail and run at first sight of the enemy?"

"They're not the enemy. I don't know what's going on but until I do, we're not engaging anyone."

"What's going on is that they've invaded my ship, killed my brothers, and are trying to kill more! What more do you need to know?! Are all humans as cowardly as you are?"

"We're not cowards. But there is more here going on than I understand. Only a fool fights without knowing why."

The Klingon backhanded her, knocking her to her knees even through her armor and weapons were raised on both sides.

Clearing her head, the little Hawaiian ordered "NO! Stand down – all of you! Pull back out of the line. We need to get Captain Karmes or Kamov or someone." Her team stepped to the side as the disgusted Klingons took their places and began engaging the diminishing Hydran and Dosadi unit.

The breeching charge blew a hole into the quarters on the other side and Jons charged through, followed by Sooth and then Wilkes while the Marines who were still mobile tried to contract their perimeter even more.

The first thing Wilkes saw was a brown satchel surrounded by the blue, ionized glow of an isolation field. The second was a tall Klingon in a uniform he assumed was that of an ambassador, holding what could only be a trigger in his left hand and smiling. Both Jons and Sooth had their weapons trained on him and he had a disruptor pointed directly at Sooth's face.

"Come join the party, Marine." You will all drop your weapons now please, or I will trigger the device. Obviously you know what it is.

Jons thought it through, coolly calculating the odds. They needed a wild card. Something to break the standoff. "Okay. We shall." and he dropped his rail-gun. Surprised, but following his lead, Sooth did the same, her plasma rifle clattering loudly on the floor.

The Klingon indicated Wilkes and said, "Well, Marine? Where's your weapon?"

"I dropped it outside." he said and took his helmet off so he could see better. The damn thing was really uncomfortable. "I'm not a Marine."

Surprised at the human face under the Dosadi battle armor, the Klingon's eyes and his disruptor wavered towards Wilkes. Seizing the chance, Sooth's arm was a blur as she reached over her shoulder, drew Kaileen's little boot knife and threw in one smooth motion.

The Klingon's eyes snapped back to her and the disruptor swung onto target as he was ever so slightly distracted by the bright pink splotch on the right side of her helmet. The disruptor bolt, instead of going directly through her faceplate, impacted mostly on the side of her helmet, blowing it to pieces and scattering chunks of gore across the back wall as Sooth dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.

The knife flew straight into the Klingon's skull, sinking past the hilt as though the entire structure of his head had somehow gone soft. Jons, ever watchful, saw the Klingon mash the trigger-device he held and simultaneously erupt in a horrible keening scream the likes of which he had never heard. The thing's features rapidly shifted through portions of a dozen different races accompanied by a hissing boiling sound while blisters erupted and popped in a disgusting display as it collapsed into an amorphous heap.

Wilkes was on his knees cradling Sooth's mangled head and screaming curses. Jons grabbed him, punched him across the face and yelled "WILKES! Defuse the bloody bomb! He triggered it! I'll take care of Sooth! Get the bomb or none of this matters!" and he shoved himself in between Wilkes and his mate, ripping open the med kit on her battered armor.

Shaking his head, Wilkles staggered to his feet, stepping back from the horror show on the floor, thankful that Jons was blocking most of his view. He actually felt rather calm now, he decided. He didn't particularly care what happened from here on out. He walked over to the case, sitting on the desk with the trigger device hanging by it's wires. The isolation field made it appear blurry. He could see the power cables leading into the field, so that meant that it had an external power-supply.

He could cut the power, but the field would remain for days and he doubted they had much time left. He wished that it had one of those handy digital countdown displays that all the bombs in the space operas always had. So dramatic. This was pretty boring. Just a brown case in a blue field and nothing he could do to defuse it. He couldn't get at any of it. It would just...He wondered what it would do. Probably not blow up. That wouldn't spread the organism around much and people would suspect something. Must just release a gas or something. Like a lethal fart. He laughed.

Jons looked up at Wilkes' back, seeing that he was just staring at the bomb and laughing. That was not a good sign. Shaking his head, he returned to trying to save Sooth's life. He could tell they were running out of time by the rapidly slackening fire from the Marines outside. He wondered if there were more than one or two left alive.

Wilkes held his hands to his head, trying to crush out the memory of that last horrible instant when the disruptor fired. If he could just put enough pressure on his skull, he could...Oh. He turned and said, "Jons, throw me her phaser."

"Wilkes, now is not the time to play Marine. Defuse the bloody bomb!"

"I am. Throw me her phaser."

Deciding not to argue, he pulled her hand-phaser from it's holster and threw it to Wilkes. The lad caught it neatly enough and turned to his work, as Jons focused on his, trying to stop the massive bleeding and keep her damaged airway open. A good sized chunk of her cheek and skull had been blown off and disruptors had a disturbing tendency to cause damage to adjacent tissues... and then he heard the screeching siren of a phaser on overload.

"Wilkes! What the hell are you doing! That'll kill everyone!"

Wilkes sat down and smiled. "No, it won't, Jons. I can't do anything to the bomb. It's in an isolation field. If I cut the power, the field's still there for a long time. So I'm giving it more power."

"Blowing up a phaser power pack by it won't affect it in the slightest you young fool!"

"I'm not blowing it up. It'll stay at this rate until it's empty in a couple seconds. But all that power is flooding in to the isolation field, making it stronger and stronger and stronger."

Two Klingons charged through the hole in the door, one after the other, "Hands up! Don't move!"

Jons said, "We give up! But she needs a medic, badly!"

Hesitating at the scene in the ambassador's quarters, the Klingons were confused for a moment. "You! Deactivate the phaser! Immediately!"

Wilkes said, "Please...just help her. Please." And the loud screaming sound faded away to nothing as the power pack exhausted itself, the bluish isolation field now a forbidding black.

"Please." Wilkes said again.

The Klingon covering Jons called for a medic while the other one came closer to Wilkes and said, "What is that...mess?"

Jons spoke again, "Whatever that was, it was in the shape of your ambassador. It was NOT Klingon."

Poking at the pile of goo and clothing with his boot, the Klingon noted a badly melted and pitted piece of what must once have been a knife. "What did you do to...it?"

Jons continued,"The wounded Marine there threw a knife into it's skull and it sort of dissolved. We have the combat tapes in our helmets, of course."

"And what is THAT?" he indicated the black oblong block of the isolation field.

"That is a biological weapon inside an isolation field. The thing triggered it. We don't know how long until it's set to release the field and detonate. That is what we came here to prevent, but we were too late."

"A biological..." the field suddenly dissipated and there was a loud and rapid rush of air expanding and then contracting back, knocking everyone in the room around. "It detonated!"

Jons sagged, "It was all for nothing. It released the plague."

Wilkes, still sitting on the floor staring at Sooth's body said in a voice completely drained of joy and hope, "No it didn't. That was just from all the pressure inside the isolation field."

Threatening him with his disruptor the Klingon said "Explain! Now!"

"Sure." Wilkes continued like he was lecturing a class. I couldn't turn off the isolation field. It wouldn't dissipate until the timer inside killed it and released whatever was in the box. But I could give it more power. And that kind of field is fixed-dimension on the outside, right? But if I add power to it, the field has to expand somewhere. Since they're fixed to isolate a region bounded by the set external dimensions, the only place for it to expand is internally. So, when I added power to the system, it had to expand internally. The field kept expanding against whatever was inside as the entire energy contents of a fully charged hand-phaser poured into it. That crushed little pea on the desk used to be about half a meter on each side. I'm guessing there must have been nearly a million pounds per square inch inside that field. Anything that was anything inside it was crushed. Dead. Harmless."

Jons laughed, "Wilkes! That's brilliant!"

"Big. Fucking. Deal." he said and put his head on his knees and cried, much to the disgust of the Klingon standing over him.


	14. Chapter 13

_**CHAPTER 13**_

"_Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." _

_- Robert Heinlein, Earth (Human)_

IMPERIAL KLINGON BATTLECRUISER RAGE, DISABLED

JANUARY 2275

Wilkes was still sitting in the Klingon Sick Bay when Captain Kamov called, demanding his report. As he went through everything he knew, he continued holding Sooth's hand while she lay in the diagnostic bed, her head encased in big chunk of equipment. When he finished his description of how he destroyed the device he just stopped talking, still focused more on Sooth's motionless shape.

Kamov studied the silent Lieutenant for a moment. The Klingon vessel was being considered a plague ship until Starfleet and Empire medical experts identified what was left of the organisms crushed inside the bomb and cleared them as uninfected. But the Captain was a bit of a romantic, and he thought of his own wife, safe at their home on Starbase 11 and what it must have been like for Wilkes.

"Lieutenant." he said quietly. Wilkes didn't respond, so he raised his voice more, "Lieutenant!"

"Oh, sorry, yes, sir?"

"Well done, Lieutenant. We're sending some volunteers over to help with the casualties. There are some experts in this...sort of injury. I'm sure she'll be fine."

That got a small smile, so he continued, "And Lieutenant?" he pointed at the blue-grey and tan mottled Dosadi battle armor he still wore, "One day I am going to see you in Starfleet issue and on that day, I will know the universe has truly gone mad."

Sooth opened her eyes. And everything was black again. There was no light. Nothing. No sound. She was back in the pod – it was just like...no. Her hand. Someone was holding her hand...Wilkes! Everything came back in a rush, her memory ending with a blinding flash of light and pain. She wondered what had happened – how was she even alive? The Klingon had shot her in the face with a disruptor at point-blank range. Did Wilkes defuse the bomb? Something was wrong with her head she couldn't move or move her ears or eyes or smell or...She squeezed his hand, feeling the strong, confident squeeze back, and then his other hand petting her arm.

Whatever had happened, it was going to be all right.

Colonel Jons came and found them the next morning. Still in his scorched battle armor, he sat heavily, exhaustion showing in his eyes and movements.

"I think we've got the mess mostly sorted out, Wilkes."

"What happened? Are we going to be able to go back to the _Delos?_ Were you able to convince them?"

Sighing, he said, "Let me back up and fill in the details. As you know, our ships were shooting the Klingons, they were shooting us and the Federation was trying to _keep_ everyone from shooting at each other. When we beamed through the _Rage_'s shields, we were able to keep the individual teams together, but the teams were scattered. Force Leader Inveth and the other half of the Dosadi Marines materialized near the bridge and attempted to assault through heavy opposition to take control of the ship." He put his hand over his eyes and sighed heavily. "The carnage was...heavy. They were badly outnumbered since the Klingon's primary security posts are just aft of the bridge. The team ran out of ammunition but continued their assault. The fighting turned hand-to-hand when Inveth lead a charge into the Klingon line. They were actually within sight of the bridge at the end, but none of them survived. Klingon casualties were horrific and the damage to the ship's internals was heavy. Some Federation security personnel were involved as well.

"My son's squad appeared close to the engine room and being unable to locate the device, assaulted there. They actually managed to briefly take control of main engineering and disabled the warp drives before they too were overrun and annihilated. Once main power was down, the jamming fields collapsed as did the _Rage's_ weapons systems and the commanders were able to talk instead of fight. That was shortly before we breeched into the ambassador's quarters and is the reason why we weren't killed outright as well when the Klingons overran our position."

Wilkes looked up, "Your son?"

With a small, sad smile Wilkes said, "Yes. He performed his duties with great courage and honor, Wilkes. Because of their actions, our mission was a success." he paused, thinking back over the events of the past year. "The scales always balance, Wilkes. Remember that. There is always balance." he was silent for a moment and then continued,

"The _Rage_ is still disabled, but the _Hood_ is providing power and damage control teams and medical teams for the wounded. You and I are the only two who remain whole from the assault force." he shook his head. "The Klingons are furious, but the combat tapes from our men and especially from you and I support everything we told them.

We've been unable to identify whatever the...thing was. The best guess from Doctor Bhutto is that there was a chemical on the knife Sooth threw that was highly toxic to the...whatever it was. It reacted corrosively.

At the moment, it looks like there will be no war. Whatever other consequences there will be, I do not know. Obviously there will be no negotiations with the Klingons. As to us, it is likely to take a few days for the organism to be identified and us to be cleared to leave. Until then, we are somewhere between guests and prisoners."

Wilkes digested all of this and asked, "Colonel, how much of this mess was because of your spying?"

Bemused, Jons looked up and said, "MY spying? Wilkes, ALL of this was the direct result of YOUR spying."

"I'm not a spy! I'm an engineer!"

Jons laughed, "Wilkes, you are the most famous spy in the known galaxy. You have a nickname you know."

"I am n...what?"

"People in the intelligence services refer to you as the accidental spy." he laughed again. "You have allowed more information to be exchanged more freely between rival agencies than we've been able to do, ever. Normal channels are rather round-about and are usually one directional.

"But you? Wilkes, you're a Federation citizen and Starfleet crewman who is married to a Dosadi Marine, business partner to a Hydran Marine and who trades with Klingons, Dosadi, Hydrans, Romulons and Orions – and anyone else! You are like a giant shared clearinghouse for information both accurate and inaccurate. Your background has been heavily researched and your every movement is monitored by every intelligence agency in the galaxy. But you are seen as too valuable – and under too much scrutiny - to co-opt.

"It is ironic but the people who most deal in information are the most unable to share that information – especially information that must become known to the highest levels of government but must remain out of the public eye. You provide a...a fulcrum. A balance point between all the various agencies. A sort of neutral third party."

Wilkes tried to think this through. "I..." he thought again. "Jons, I don't get it. I'm just me. I don't want to be a spy, I just want to live a normal life, raise our kids and I don't know, retire and play cards or something."

"Wilkes, that's all most anyone really wants. But sometimes God has different plans for us. I told you once before that spies were not what you think they are. You look at the carnage and the loss and the pain all around you, " Jons waved his arm across the packed Sick Bay "and you think how awful this all was and now you start to think that you were responsible. And you are."

Wilkes looked up, stricken, and Jons continued, "But Wilkes, what you are also responsible for, as are all the spies who uncovered the truth behind this plan, is saving the lives of uncounted trillions of people across the galaxy. People who will live normal lives and raise their children and retire and who will never know that my son was killed in a filthy Klingon engine room in the middle of nowhere, or that your mate had part of her face shot off, or that dozens of brave men of many different species fought and died so that they could go ON living normal lives and raising their children. They will never know, and they will never say thank you because they will never know.

"Wilkes, had it not been for the information exchanged between all these different agencies, we would not have known about this plan. The Federation would have seen a devastating plague released on Earth by the Klingons – while under a flag of truce. What you saw here today would be repeated across thousands of planets with women and children caught in the cross-fire. Instead of dozens of dead, trillions would die. Whole races exterminated, planets made uninhabitable, and very likely the entire fabric of the interstellar community undone as a result of that war. The spies of the galaxy are responsible for saving those lives as well."

"Who's plan was this, anyway?" Wilkes asked after trying to comprehend all of Jons' information.

"We don't know yet. The Klingons appear stunned and completely in the dark. Maybe the Orion's. Or the Romulons. We'll probably never know."

"So this all might happen _again_?!"

"Wilkes, there is _always_ something going on – usually many somethings – that threatens the peace of the galaxy. And it's a spy's job to find those out and stop them."

"So you've always been a spy?"

"Me? Wilkes, I said YOU were a spy, even if only an accidental one. I'M a Marine." Smiling he stood, patted Sooth's leg and said "Take care of your mate, Wilkes. I have another duty to attend to before I rest." Stopping as the door cycled open he said, "Oh, and Wilkes? Once she's done with regen and rehab, my wife and I would be honored if you would bring your family to visit us. For both business and pleasure, of course." and he left the room.

Wilkes thought about that. There was still a long journey ahead for all of them apparently.


End file.
